Circuit-controlling finger for electrically-operated musical instruments.



W. G. REED. CIRCUIT CONTROLLING FINGER FOR BLEGTRIGALLY OPERATED Patented Oct. 6

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. APPLIGATIONYIILED JUNE 3, 1911 Wm 19. M,

(L Mmiwi b 11-4: Nni Rls PETERS 60.. PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. D4 Cv UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER C. REED, 0F DALTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T6 THE TELELECTRIC COMPANY, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF Ilu/IASSACHUSETTS.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLING FINGER FOR ELEGTRICALLY-OPERATED MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER C. REED, a citizen of the United States, residing at-Dalton, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and use ful Improvements in Circuit-Controlling Fingers for Electrically-Operated Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to those parts of electrically-operated playing apparatus for )iancs and analo ous musical instruments which cooperate with a perforated music sheet to close the circuits through playing magnets according to thenotes to be played, and is applicable more particularly to circuitcontrolling devices of the general type shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 753,809, granted on the 1st day of March, 1904, to Powers and Jewell, the principal object of my invention being to improve upon the construction and arrangement of these prior devices in such manner as to increase their quickness of operation.

A cireuit-controlling mechanism embodying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which, for the sake of convenient comparison, I have also shown a corresponding mechanism constructed and arranged substantially as set forth in the Power and Jewell patent above referred to.

In these drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation showing my improved construction, with certain parts in section; and Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the prior construction and arrangement of the corresponding parts.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, 2 represents a portion of a music sheet of the usual character and 3 represents one of the perforation therein, the sheet 2 being sup ported by the usual guide bar at and being assumed to move from left to right as indicated by the adjacent arrow.

5 indicates my improved contact finger, which is typical of the series of like fingers employed in the apparatus and is pivotally mounted at one end on a fixed rod 6 common to all the fingers. At its other end the finger 5 is provided with the usual insulating block 7, and between its ends it has a downwardly-projecting point 8 which controls the position of the finger by resting Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 3, 1911.

Patented Oct. c.1914. Serial No. 631,053.

upon the imperforate portions of the music sheet 2 as the latter passes beneath it and thus supporting the finger except at the times when a perforation such as 3 passes beneath the point 8, whereupon the finger drops slightly as said point moves downward through the perforation into the usual groove 9 provided in the bar 4;. This movement completes the circuit through the corresponding playing magnet by means of the wire 10, which is connected at one end to the insulating block 7 and at its other end to the fixed support 11, and passes between its ends over the usual contact bar 12, at the point of contact with which the playing magnet circuit is opened and closed.

It will be observed that the finger shown in Fig. l so proportioned and arranged that a line drawn from the center of its pivotal axis 6 across the lower end of the point 8 will practically coincide with the direction of movement of the music sheet 2 at the point where it passes over the bar 4:, so that whenever a perforation such as 3 passes beneath the point 8 said point will drop perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the sheet 2, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the entire length of said perforation (allowing for the width of the point 8) will consequently be effective in giving a corresponding duration to the note struck by the playing magnet which has its circuit closed at this time. This perpendicular movement of the point 8 is to be contrasted with the operation of the prior form of finger, shown at 5 in Fig. 2, which has its pivotal axis 6 located at a distance above the point 8 on the finger, so that in the case of the finger 5 its point 8' moves backward as well as downward whenever a perforation 3 passes beneath it, with the result that a certain portion of the length of the perforation is inefiective and adds nothing to the duration of the corresponding note. In other words, the duration of a given note is determined by the difference between the length of its perforation and the distance through which the point 8' moves backward as it drops through the perforation, making due allowance for the width of said point which may be assumed to be the same as the width of the point 8. The difference just referred to will be apnotes, such as repetition notes for example,

which are commonly represented in the musicsheet by perforations of the shortest length which itis possible to employ and still give the corresponding playing magnet time enough to operate and strike the note, the rapidity with which repetition notes may be played being also limited by the necessity for providing a sufiiciently strong bridge, that is, an imperforate portion of the music sheet, between each two successive perforations corresponding to repetition notes. Therefore, as a practical matter, my improved form of contact finger makes it possible to employ smaller note perforations and consequently to locate more of these perforations within a given space than would otherwise be possible, so that the ultimate result is that the apparatus becomes capable of playing repetition notes or the like more rapidly than heretofore. This advantage, it will be observed, is primarily due to the peculiar and novel location of the pivotal axis of the finger with reference to the point 8 and to the direction of movement of the music sheet where it passes said point, and it is to be understood that my invention is not limited to any precise contour or con struction of the contact finger or of the parts with which it isimmediately associated.

I claim as my invention 1. In electrically-operated playing apparatus for musical instruments, the combination of a pivotally-mounted circuit-controlling finger having a point adapted to pass through the perforations in the music sheet, said point and the pivotal axis of the finger being located substantially in a straight line coinciding with the direction of movement of the music sheet where it passes said point, and means controlled by said finger for opening and closing a corresponding circuit.

2. In electrically-operated playing apparatus for musical instruments, the combination of a support for the music sheet, a contact bar, a pivotally mounted circuitcontrolling finger having a point adapted to pass through the perforations in the music sheet, said point and the pivotal axis of the finger being located substantially in a straight line coinciding with the direction of movement of the music-sheet where it passes said point, and a contact wire controlled by said finger and movable into and out of contact with said bar.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st day of May,

WALTER C. REED. Witnesses:

E. D. GHADwIcK, Josnrn T. BRENNAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

